My Latest Cisco White Paper: AI in the Contact Center

If you follow me, you'll know I've been way busy lately. Included in that mix is a white paper I've been doing for Cisco. Everyone is trying to assess what AI can really bring to the contact center, and to help educate the market, they engaged me to produce this vendor-neutral white paper. My job is provide objective, balanced insights, and hopefully you'll reach that conclusion after giving it a read.

The white paper is publicly-available now on Cisco's website, and you can access it here, under the Cisco Finesse tab. Your comments and inquiries are welcome, and any sharing would be greatly appreciated.

August Writing Roundup

It's hard to focus on work during the late days of summer, but I still managed to do my fair share of writing in August. Here's a digest of highlights that kept me busy (but by no means all of my posts/articles), and a sign of what I'll be working on and speaking about as my conference schedule resumes for the fall.

Sidebar - my website evolution continues, and there will be updates coming over the next few weeks. That includes the start of a program to support my blog subscribers, where I'll share exclusive content such as research notes or podcasts with colleagues about current events.

My blog subscription base is growing, especially among new followers, but I also have many RSS followers. Am happy to have any/all followers, but would prefer direct subscribers, and to drive that, I'm starting to offer exclusive content. So, if you're following my blog via RSS, I urge you to consider a direct subscription, which you can do here, or on just about any page on my website.

Enough said - here's my writing roundup for August:

Reimagining Voice in the Age of AI, UCStrategies, Aug. 31

How do you Prepare if your UC Provider is Acquired?, TechTarget, Aug. 30

Innovation and Disruption - Know the Difference, Toolbox.com, Aug. 29

Customer Care for the Digital Generation, Upstream Works Blog, Aug. 23

Formulating Your Collaboration Strategy - be a Leader, Toolbox.com, Aug. 18

The Benefits of Improved Agility with Collaboration, RingCentral Blog, Aug. 16

Selling Management on Omnichannel - it's a Driver for Customer Care, Toolbox.com, Aug. 10

Habitat Soundscaping - and Now for Something Completely Different, No Jitter, Aug. 8

What Omnichannel Brings to Collaboration and Customer Care, Toolbox.com, Aug. 3

The Benefits of Improving Workflows with Collaboration, RingCentral Blog, Aug. 2

Genband Perspectives17 - Quick Take

As usual, I just have time to post a quick take on Day 1 from the conference, along with some photos. I'll be writing up my thoughts in a separate post after the event, and will be posting that on UCStrategies, so watch for that over the next few days.

In short, Genband is making big strides with Kandy as a platform play to help carriers compete in today's hyper-competitive market. Much like how Cisco is focusing heavily on Spark for their collaboration story - instead of all the other pieces around this LOB - Kandy is the main story so far here. Genband is transitioning away from hardware - but it's still the biggest part of their revenues - and so far, we haven't heard anything about those lines of business. So, to whatever extent Kandy is actually generating revenue, it's the big focus here, and perhaps it's necessary to keep their carrier customers in-house rather than drifting over to the unspoken competitor, BroadSoft.

That said, there's a lot to like about what Genband is doing with Kandy, and I'll have more to say about that in my proper analysis. So far, Genband has done a great job articulating the opportunity for carriers to differentiate via Kandy, but takeup has been slower than expected, and there are lots of reasons around this.To be fair, we heard about lots of success stories, so good things are happening here. Otherwise, Genband is in a "quiet period" with Sonus, so nothing is being said about where that's going, but it seems like a logical move, especially if you view Genband as a consolidator along the lines of what Mitel is doing, most recently with Toshiba.

The other partnership of note is with Five9, and we heard a good update from Wendell Black. Adding contact center may seem like a stretch for Genband, but the integration with Kandy makes this an appealing option, especially for SMBs who are frustrated by how long it takes for their incumbent vendor to make changes to enable a better customer experience. Given how service providers are being wooed away by the likes of Twilio and various OTT players, this is an important move by Genband to help their customers retain more business, especially as the lines between UC and the contact center become blurred.

Time's up, so I'll stop now, and hope you'll read my follow-on post after I digest everything from the conference. Until then, here are some photos to give you a sense of the vibe here from Day 1. Otherwise, you can keep tabs in real time by following the conference twitter feed - #GBP17.

patrick Joggerst, EVP

CEO David walsh

Judit andrasi, ceo immmr

network evolution panel

the soul tones - great band, keeping the energy level high

this private tour on monday was really great and would love to see a game here someday.

view from the press box - everything is original here for the 3rd oldest ball park in mlb - even the phones!

the WS trophy case - a lot of what we saw isn't open to the public - this stuff was great.

great statue for dodger legend #1

only in la - palm trees, baseball and a great skyline view

My New White Paper - Real-Time Collaboration and Proactive Customer Service

Been plenty busy the past few months, and have just finished up white papers for two clients. One of them is CafeX, a contact center vendor I've been following for a while. They've developed some strong real-time applications with an analytics layer that can really help contact centers cope with today's CX requirements. 

The white paper is titled "The Value of Real-Time Collaboration and Analytics to Drive Proactive Customer Service", and was just launched yesterday. Here's the link to download it from their website, and if you do that, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

May Writing Roundup

If you follow me, you'll know the whole month has been non-stop, but aside from all the travel to conferences and speaking spots, I managed to keep a pretty full slate of writing going - mostly for clients, but also for my own blogging. Here's a digest of my activity, and that will give you a sense of the trends I'm seeing in the collaboration and customer care spaces right now.

Tech Leader Talk - Digital and Customer Experience: Are We There Yet? - Facebook link to live-streamed video, May 30, Schulich School of Business, Global Alumni Network 

NEC and Frank Viola - "Raising a Family" - My Q&A on Frank's Retirement, May 30, my blog

How Can Near Real-Time Communication Modes Offer Context?, May 25, TechTarget

CX17 - Genesys and ININ - Quick Take, May 25, my blog

Thinking Clearly About the Cloud for Collaboration, May 23, Toolbox.com

Our Drivers of the Digital Economy Event - Thanks for Coming all!, May 17, my blog

Messaging, Slack and Facebook - It's Complicated, May 15, Internet Telephony Magazine (am also cited in three other articles in their Q2 edition - links are here)

Vertical Market Collaboration Scenarios - Healthcare, May 12, Toolbox.com

NEC Advantage 2017 - Quick Update, May 12, my blog

Takeaways from Cisco's Customer Care Analyst Event, May 10, UCStrategies

Assessing the Total Impact of Digital Transformation, May 8, Toolbox.com

How the Customer Journey Drives CX, May 2, Toolbox.com

Messaging, Chatbots, AI - Finding the Enterprise Opportunity, May 2, No Jitter

Next Stop - Here - Canadian Telecom Summit

There are SO few industry events in Canada, although lately I've been speaking at a couple, but they're pretty small, at least compared to what I usually attend in the U.S.

Well, we do have one big conference - the Canadian Telecom Summit - and it's been running 16 years now. It's here in Toronto, and I'll be attending over the course of its run next week from Monday to Wednesday. For more details, please see the Event Calendar section of my site.

I'll be tweeting as time allows - #CTS17 - and will post some highlights here in due course.

Movers and Shakers - Our Latest UCStrategies Podcast

It's been a while since the stars have lined up for me to be on a UCStrategies podcast, but we had a good one last week. Building on the updates from the recent Enterprise Connect conference, there was lots to talk about in terms of which companies are driving change in the collaboration space. The podcast has been posted now to the site, and being moderated by Dave Michels, the conversation was never dull. Hope you like it, and your comments are most welcome.

April Writing Roundup

Well, this must be the longest I've ever gone without blogging - my last post was a month ago, doing my March writing roundup. Wow, time sure flies!

I had no business travel in April, but was away on vacation for 9 days, and had a more than full writing schedule, including writing two white papers, and prepping for several upcoming conferences and speaking spots. So, no blogging for April, but here's a digest of what I was writing about.

How CX Impacts the Entire Business, April 28, Toolbox.com

How to Get Management's Buy-In for Today's Contact Center, April 27, RingCentral blog

Does Your Business Have a CX Strategy?, April 20, Toolbox.com

Messaging Platforms Flout Traditional Real-Time Telephony, April 19, TechTarget

Three Things End Users will Like About Today's IP Phones, April 12, Toolbox.com

IP Phones are Hot - What's Up with That?, April 7, Toolbox.com

How Will AI Tools Affect the Future of Contact Centers?, April 6, TechTarget

What Businesses Think About Collaboration Technologies, April 4, Toolbox.com

Next Stop - Avaya Engage, Las Vegas

Well, actually, I'm here, and am through Day 1. Was going to post earlier, but had major connectivity issues that kept me offline almost all day. Pretty intensive roadmap sessions for analysts and consultants, and it will take a bit of time to digest things. Lots more to come over the next two days, and soon after, I'll have some takeaways to share. Of course, Avaya is going through some major challenges right now, but there is absolutely a lot happening as they re-work their offerings for the world of digital transformation.

Unconventional view from my room, but if you've been to Vegas, you'll know where I am!

ITExpo Shout-Out #1 - Panel Session: Customer Service, Evolved

TMCnet's flagship show, ITExpo gets underway next Wednesday, and I'll be there as usual. No complaints going to Florida in February, and I've got a full schedule of vendor briefings, meetings and am moderating two sessions.

The first one is on Friday at 10am, and as the title above suggests, we'll be discussing how technology is impacting customer service, and what businesses need to do to adapt. Joining me will be speakers from Plantronics, Telax, CGS and USAN. It's going to be good, and for more detail, scroll down the Conference Program page here, and when you get to Friday, look for us in the Enterprise Communications track. Hope you can join us!

My 2016 - By The Numbers

Happy 2017 all! I meant to get this done before the break, but it just didn't happen. Am back from a 10 day hiatus from work, and now there's a lot to do. Before getting to the new stuff, I wanted to  tally a quick recap of my output during 2016. 

I don't think - or expect - that most of my followers would have a broad sense of all the things I do, and that you probably only follow me selectively. That's fine, but I do cover a lot of ground, and a good way to show that is with a simple tally of what kept me busy last year. Being an indie analyst, I have to tout my horn every once in a while, so here goes.

185:    

Original, published articles and thought leadership pieces - primarily with Ziff Davis, TechTarget, UCStrategies, Internet Telephony Magazine and EM 360 Magazine

11:  

Guest blog posts/articles - primarily with UCStrategies and GetVoIP

20:   

Ghost-written articles and case studies

114:  

Posts written on my own blog

3:   

White papers/e-books

3:   

Video interviews

17:   

Podcasts participated in - primarily with UCStrategies and EM 360

8:   

Webinar presentations - primarily with Ziff Davis

18:   

Conferences/industry events attended, and/or moderated/presented at - Cisco Canada, Cisco US, Unify, ITExpo, Vertical Communications, Channel Partners, Dell, NEC, Energy Thought Summit, Interactive Intelligence, Metaswitch Canada, Monage, Genesys, SCTC, BC Summit, Nextiva, ShoreTel, Schulich Tech Talk Leaders

2:   

SIPtone music gigs  :-)

Also, in the smart grid space:

11:   

Original thought leadership pieces and executive interviews

2017 is shaping up to be just as busy, so it's time to get back to work. Feel free to inquire about specific examples from the above list - I can provide links or soft copies for anything except the ghost writing.

August Writing Roundup

Pretty light month on the writing front, but hey, it's August, and after getting through some bigger projects, I need to focus on my Fall pipeline for new business. Have also been busy on two other fronts.

First is adding the back end to my updated website/blog, so I've been compiling a lot of content that will be posted soon. Once that's done I'll have a formal launch, hopefully by mid-September.

The other front is researching and writing for upcoming conferences. For the next three events, I'm either presenting or speaking, and it was great to have time to do a lot of the prep work over August.

That said, here's what I'd like to share as writing highlights from August.

UC Implications from Dialpad's New Study about Anywhere Workers, UCStrategies, Aug. 30

How Should Mobile-First Apps fit our UC Strategy?, TechTarget, Aug. 29

How Market Disruptions Impact UC Buying Decisions, Toolbox.com, Aug. 24

Why You Should Consider Integrating Contact Center with UC, Toolbox.com, Aug. 19

The Parallel Worlds of UC and the Contact Center, Toolbox.com, Aug. 16

Why Are We Still Working in Offices?, Internet Telephony Magazine, Aug. 11

New Ways to Look at UC and the Contact Center, Toolbox.com, Aug. 9

Three Key Questions for a Successful Hybrid UC Deployment, TechTarget, Aug. 8

Three Reasons Not to Partner with a Vendor for UC, Toolbox.com, Aug. 1

My Writing Roundup - July and June - and the Bigger Picture for JAA

I've been doing a monthly digest for a while here on my blog to summarize my top posts in one place.

Most of my followers don't know that I'm published regularly on four different portals, with one of them being 12 posts each month. Additionally, I post original content here on my blog, write one-off articles that turn up in a variety of places, share my current white papers here, ghost write posts for select clients, and am cited in the media from time to time.

In short, I produce a lot of content, all of it fueled by my ongoing research and involvement in the UC&C space. These monthly digest posts are a good way to get a taste of my current thought leadership, and I hope that leads you to explore more about my practice. Almost all of the above forms of writing can be accessed here on my website, and part of the refresh I just went through was to make it easier for visitors to find everything. 

For example, if you only follow me on Ziff Davis or UCStrategies, you may think that's all I do. Spend some time here on the my site, and you'll get a fuller picture. On that note, I should add that this new site is still in beta mode, and there's LOTS more content coming soon.

Enough said, so let's get on to the roundup. This time around, I'm doing a double digest, as I didn't get a chance to do June, mainly due to the cutover from my old site to here. There's a lot to summarize over two months, so I'll just hit the high spots, and perhaps you'll explore further here on your own.

Tomorrow's UC - Nobody's Talking About Voice, UCStrategies, July 28

Should our video strategy be built by lines of business?, TechTarget, July 27

UC's Future Ain't What it Used to Be, Enterprise Management 360, July 26 (article runs on pp. 5-8; PDF version available on request)

Choosing the Right Partner for UC, Toolbox.com, July 25

The Communications Gap - it's Business and it's Personal, Vonage, my new white paper, July 25 (scroll down this page - you'll find a few references to the WP there - PDF available upon request)

Welcome to my New Site!, my blog, July 21

Three Ways IoT Impacts your Contact Center for UC, Toolbox.com, July 18

What collaboration tools are right for my organization?, TechTarget, July 14

What Connected Customers Mean for Collaboration, Toolbox.com, July 12

Reconsidering the Value of Telephony, Part 2, Toolbox.com, June 29

Assessing Deployment Options for UC, ShoreTel, new white paper, June 23 (PDF available upon request)

How Community Drives Collaboration, Toolbox.com, June 21

Is Interactive Intelligence an Exponential Organization?, UCStrategies, June 20

Five Forces Driving Collaboration, Toolbox.com, June 13

Choice - Perhaps the Best Reason why SMBs Should use Hosted VoIP, Toolbox.com, June 10

Interactions 2016 - Reimagine the Future, my blog, June 9

Multichannel Contact Centers - More Options, but Challenging

My latest post for Exony is on the topic of multichannel contact centers. The premise is that multichannel affords more options for supporting customers, but has a lot of associated challenges to make it actually work. Some issues are obvious, but others are more subtle, and when you get a bit granular, a lot of interesting decision points come up around how best to manage things.

If that's of interest, I hope you'll read my analysis, which is running now on my column page on Exony's site. As always, comments are welcome.